<p>
Each source file should start with a header stating file ownership and the license which must be used to distribute the application.
This rule must be fed with the header text which is expected at the beginning of every file.
</p>

<p>For example, for SonarSource's open source softwares, the <code>headerFormat</code> property must be set to:</p>
<pre>
/*
 * SonarQube, open source software quality management tool.
 * Copyright (C) 2008-2013 SonarSource
 * http://github.com/SonarOpenCommunity/sonar-cxx
 *
 * SonarQube is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
 * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
 * version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
 *
 * SonarQube is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
 * Lesser General Public License for more details.
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
 * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
 * Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.
 */
</pre>
